As Russell Martin discussed the rekindling of the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox, he had a look of anticipation on his face. It was the look of a boxer before an important bout against a despised rival. It was the look of someone who was anxious to try and spoil Boston’s 100th anniversary celebration of Fenway Park on Friday.

“When you play Boston,” Martin said, “the only thing you care about is beating them.”

Obviously, that is the same attitude the Yankees have when they play any team. Whether it is the Red Sox, the Rays or the Rangers, the Yankees want to win every game. But Martin meant that the conquests between the Yankees and the Red Sox are a bit different. There is a different type of intensity when the Yankees roll 200 miles north and

The final games of spring training were disappearing off the schedule for the Yankees. So, naturally, thoughts were drifting toward the games that mattered. Well, almost everyone was thinking about the regular season. Derek Jeter was still thinking about getting hits in meaningless spring games.

As Jeter placed his bats in a dugout rack one steamy afternoon, Ken Singleton, the former All-Star outfielder and my YES Network colleague, asked Jeter if he was hoping to save some hits for the regular season. It was a playful question, one hitter talking to another hitter. But Jeter didn’t view the last swings of the spring so cavalierly.

When the Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers in the Division Series last October, the defeat stung CC Sabathia for several weeks. The season ended abruptly, too abruptly for Sabathia. He was hoping the Yankees could power their way to another World Series title. Instead, the Yankees limped home.

Six months later, the Yankees are trying to replace the disappointment of 2011 with a different ending in 2012. Sabathia will throw the Yankees’ first pitch of a new season against the Rays on Friday, which is the tiniest of steps in what he believes can be a championship season. There will be thousands of pitches thrown before the Yankees can prove if they can make another title a reality.

With Sabathia, the Yankees have an ace they can trust. While every Major League team has a No. 1 starter,

Freddy Garcia is a reliable starter, a back-end-of-the-rotation pitcher who wins with guile and a fastball that averages around 87 miles per hour. Garcia isn’t someone whose presence should stunt the growth of pitchers that are at least a decade younger than him, pitchers named Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes and Michael Pineda.

When the Yankees assembled for Spring Training last month, I expected that Garcia would end up as the sixth starter and the man without a spot in the rotation. The Yankees signed Garcia to a one-year, $4 million contract last November, but then they acquired Pineda from the Seattle Mariners and added Hiroki Kuroda as a free agent. Garcia’s grip on a rotation spot vanished.

With one week left before Opening Day, I still think the most sensible thing for the

TAMPA – Andy Pettitte has ended his retirement to sign a 1-year, minor league contract with the Yankees that will pay him $2.5 million. Less than three weeks after Pettitte visited spring training as a guest instructor here, the 39-year old will soon rejoin the team as an experienced left-handed starter.

The Yankees needed starters last season and had hoped Pettitte would pitch for them, but he retired after going 11-3 with a 3.28 earned run average in 2010 and stayed retired. But the Yankees have always communicated to Pettitte that they would be interested in re-signing him if he ever wanted to rekindle his career. That is exactly what Pettitte wants to do.

When Pettitte visited here in late February, I asked him if being around some of his former teammates gave him an itch to

TAMPA – There are hundreds of stories in the Yankees’ clubhouse here. There are superstars and players who are trying to become superstars. There are solid players, useful players and marginal players. There are players who are trying to prolong careers.

Dewayne Wise is one of those chasers, a player who is trying to snatch some more games and more paychecks.

Two lockers away from Derek Jeter, there is a locker for Wise, a 34-year old outfielder with a lifetime average of .219 and a scar alongside his nose. He made one of the most memorable catches in history and he has twice appeared in the postseason, but he acknowledged that his career “is winding down.” Wise wants to end it on a championship team, which is why he signed a Minor League deal with the Yankees.

TAMPA – The Yankees can exhale. David Robertson has a bone bruise on the top of his right foot, which is an encouraging development for the Yankees. He will continue wearing a walking boot until Monday before removing it and resuming some baseball activities.

After two anxious days in which Robertson underwent several medical tests to determine the extent of his injury, the Yankees were relieved that their superb setup man isn’t expected to miss any meaningful games.

“It’s a huge relief,” said manager Joe Girardi. He added, “This is as good as it gets for us.”

While Girardi said he couldn’t predict how quickly Robertson would heal, he said he “would think” that Robertson would be ready for the season opener. Before the Yankees

I’ve sung karaoke with Bobby Valentine in Tokyo, I’ve eaten lunch with him at his restaurant in Connecticut and I’ve seen him console a 9/11 family during a memorial event for their son, who was a friend of mine. In every setting, which ranged from hilarious to casual to somber, Valentine was always on. He was on stage and on display because he is comfortable with being in the middle of any situation.

Sometimes, Valentine creates the situation unnecessarily. That is what happened on a sleepy Tuesday in Florida when Valentine questioned aspects of Derek Jeter’s famous flip play and also took a swipe at Alex Rodriguez. While speaking with reporters, the Red Sox manager didn’t need to inject Jeter or Rodriguez into the discussion, but he did. My guess is Valentine

TAMPA – As David Robertson stood on a mound here in December, the conversation switched to the possibility of him being a closer for the Yankees. Sure, Robertson said, he would love to succeed Mariano Rivera at some point, but Robertson stressed that he didn’t want Rivera to retire anytime soon.

“I don’t need to do it right away,” Robertson said. “I want Mo to hang around a few years.”

Two months later, Rivera walked into Spring Training and strongly hinted that he would retire after 2012. Rivera acknowledged that he has already decided what he will do after this season. While Rivera wouldn’t divulge his plans to reporters, he sounded like a player who was prepared to cede the ninth inning to someone else.

As the Yankees inched through a sluggish offseason, general manager Brian Cashman admitted that he wanted to strengthen the starting rotation. Cashman stressed that he wasn’t hopeful about his chances, balking at the high prices for free agents and at the lofty requests during trade talks. But, on a frenetic Friday, Cashman revamped the rotation in a splashy way.

Cashman’s patience was rewarded when he acquired Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners for Jesus Montero in a bold, four-player trade. The Yankees also secured Jose Campos, a Class A pitcher, and moved Hector Noesi in the deal. While the Yankees valued Montero’s offense, they picked the elite, young pitcher over the elite, young hitter. That is usually a sound strategy.